Sandy Springs announced the city is going to stop using the firm contracted to provide operations, marketing and other services for the City Springs Performing Arts Center and other public spaces.
Like the city does for many of its services, the civic and arts complex has been run by a private company, Spectra, an event facility management firm owned by Comcast, since opening in 2018. But since then, the city has learned the firm is providing duplicate services in some areas and it would be better for the city to employ the positions, City Manager John McDonough said at the City Council’s Jan. 22 retreat.
“After the transition, the city will assume full management of the operation of the facility,” McDonough said. “The city and Spectra are committed to a smooth transition.”
City spokesperson Sharon Kraun later said the employees that are staying at City Springs, nine out of the 12 currently working full-time, will work under existing city contracts.
“PAC staff have been incorporated into existing contracts related to the organizational structure,” Kraun said in an email.
It is not clear which employees are staying at City Springs or how this change affects the existing contracts.
The city has brought on an executive search firm to find a new operations manager, McDonough said.
The majority of the current staff has been offered the option to continue working at City Springs, McDonough said, but it is not clear if this change would increase the cost to the city.
Michael Enoch, the general manager who was hired in 2017 and employed by Spectra, departed in November 2018, three months after the Performing Arts Center grand opening.
Update: This article has been updated to clarify that the City Springs positions will be employed under existing city contracts.